Improvement in construction of houses



UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAMORTWINE, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES.

`Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. '4 1,445, dated February 2, 1864.

To all 'whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ORTWINE, of the city and county of Baltimore', and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Dwelling-Houses; and I do hereby declare that the same are described and represented inthe following specification and drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvements, I will proceed to describe their construction and use, referring to the drawings, in which the same letters indicate like parts in each of the gures.

Figure l is a plan of the basement. Fig. 2 is a plan of the rst story or principal floor. Fig. 3` is a plan of the second story. Fig. 4 is a plan of the third story.

The nature of my invention and improve ments in the construction of dwelling-houses consists in combining with a perpendicular open court, extending from the basement up between the front and rear rooms of the house, a peculiar arrangement of passage from the parlor to the dining-room, with pantry, back stairs, and closet for the first floor or principal story of the house; also, in the peculiar arrangement of the bath-room, passage, back stairs, and closet yfor the second story of the house.

In the accompanying drawings, A A' are the two side walls, which walls, it' the house is in a block containing several houses, may form one side of each of the two adjoining houses on each side of this house.

B is the front wall, with threevwindows, C C C, in the basement, one or more of which may be doors, if desired.

D is the front door, and D' D' the windows of the parlor in the first story; D2 D2 D2, the windows of the chamber or second story; Da D3 D3, windows of the third story--all of which are in the front of the house.

E is the rear wall of the basement, with a door,E',and window F. This rear wall,y E, of

' the basement may extend from the side wall A from two-thirds to three-fourths ofthe distance to the side wall A', and joins the side or basement wall G, running parallel to the wall A', as shown in Fig. 1, leaving an open court, H, between the walls G and A' from the rear of the house to the cross-wall I, the wall G having the door G' and windows G2 G2 G2 opening into the court H. The space J in the basement between the front wall, B, and crosswall I, forms a commodious room for fuel, with a rear window, J', and door J2 opening into ythe entry K, which has a door, G', to the court H or H', and a door, K', to the kitchen K2. This entryK also contains the basement-stairs, beginning at L and terminating at L' on the floor of the first story. The kitchen K2 is large,

.well-lighted, and has a fire-place at M and a dumb-waiter at M', with a space, M2, beside it for a closet or dresser. On each side of the basement, Fig. l, I have shown portions of the walls of the two adjoining houses, for the purpose of showing how the houses forming a block join one anothcr.

In Fig. 2, which is a plan of Ithe rst or principal floor, D is the front door, opening into the hall or passage N, with a door, N', into the parlor N2, which is large and commodious and lighted by two front windows, D' D', and the rear window, N3, opening into the perpendicular court H', and may have one or more fire places, O. This parlor has a door, O', opening to the passage P, leading from the parlor and hall to the door I2' of the diningroom P2, the floor of which room P2 extends from the wall A over the top of the wall G to the wall A', forming a dining-room the whole width of the house, with three windows, Q Q Q, through the rear wall, E, of the house, which wall extends over the entrance to the court H to the wall A'. This dining-room has a fireplace, It, dumb-waiter M' from the kitchen below, and door R' into the closet R2 under the back stairs; also a door, S, into the pantry S', which pantry is over the horizon-- tal court H, and has a window, S2, opening into the perpendicular court H'. The horizontal court H, by the side of the kitchen and in the basement, is covered by the door of the dining-room and pantry, and extends into the perpendicular court to the cross-wall I. .This perpendicular court H' is surrounded by the walls I, T, T', and A', and it extends from the end of the horizontal court H through all the stories above the basement, supplying light and free ventilation to the rooms and passages in each story, which have windows opening into it, as shown in the drawings.

I contemplate that in very cold, windy weather the outer end of the horizontal court H may be closed with a door or partition set with glass to supply light, and that the top of the perpendicular court H' may have a ing the basement between the frontwall, B,

and cross-wall I, is similar to many houses heretofore made and in common use, the rooms in the second and third stories of this part of the house may be made as shown in Figs. 3

and 4, or in such other form or arrangement -as maybe preferred; but the space between Vthe cross-wall I and the rear wall, E, inthe second story I divide, as shown in Fig. 3that is, I make the room V, which is over the dinin g-room, narrower than the dining-room by making the closetV' with a door into the room V, and by making the bath-room V2 larger -than the pantry S' below it. The bath-room V2 has a window, W, into the court H' and a door, W', into the passage X. There is a door, W2, from the passage X into the room V, which room is admirably adapted and suited for a nursery, as it is airy, well lighted, and free from much of the noise of the street. It is also a very desirable room for a library and study, if not wanted as a nursery. The

passage X is lighted by the window X' into the court H', and this passage runs into the passage Y over the passage N, and the front stairs begin at Y' in the second story and tervminate at Y2 in the third story, and the back stairs begin at Z in the second story and terminate at Z' in the third story. In the third story, Fig. 4, the passages a and a' are similar to the passages Y and X in the second story, and are lighted by the window a2 from the court H'. The rooms c, d, and e are most excellent lodging-rooms for servants. f is a closet, with a door, f This closet may extend over the back stairs, if desired, and the closet R2 from the dining-room may extend under the back stairs.

The height of the several stories in'this im proved dwelling-house may be varied to suit the views of the builder or owner, but I have found them to answer a good purpose when the basement was made seven feet, the parlor thirteen feet, dining-room eleven feet, the front chambers in the second story eleven feet, the nursery nine feet, front chambers in third story eleven feet, and servants lodgingrooms eight feet in height; and the steps or stairs necessary to suit the variation in height between the front and rear portions of the house can bel readily arranged by the builder in such positions as may be preferred. I contemplate that when my improved houses are located on ground that rises from front to rear of the house the Hoor of the diningroom may be made half a story (or more or less) higher than the door of the parlor, and that when located on land that descends from front to rear the dining-room floor may be made more or less lower than the parlor-Hoor, if desired, or that a roof may be extended back from below the dining-room windows to cover a kitchen, if preferred that way.

My improved houses are far superior to the houses heretofore made, as more room, better lighted and ventilated, combined with greater convenience of access, is obtained at less expense in the construction of the house.

I believe I have described and represented my improvements in houses so as to enable any person skilled in the art to build the same.

I will now state what I desire to secure by Letters Patent-to wit:

1. In combination with the open. perpendicular court, extending from the basement up between the front and rear rooms of the house, the arrangement of the passage from the parlor Vto the dining-room with the pantry S', back stairs, U' U2, and closet R2 for the first lioor or principal story of the house.

2. The arrangement of the bath-room V2, passage X, back stairs, Z Z', and closetV, for the second story of the house.

WILLIAM ORT WINE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. HAYWARD, J. ROBERT ISRAEL. 

